Sal's Corner

Tuesday's with Morrie

A couple nights ago I started reading a book titled "Tuesdays with Morrie," the book is based on a true story and describes the relationship of a university professor (Morrie) with one of this former students (Mitch).  One day Morrie is diagnosed with Lou Gherig;s Disease and instead of giving up and wait for his time to come, he decides to start sharing his experience with people.  Mtch, will come every tuesday to visit with him, and Morrie starts teaching him lessons about life and what really is important.

The book got me thinking about how we can waste a good portion of our lifes working towards things that do not trascend, money does not trascend, a high position within a corporation does not trascend.  But loving people and learning to be loved does.  It is a book that will make you reflect and put in perspective your current efforts and focus on what really is important.

Are You Happy?

Lets say I came from mars, and have no idea about what it is to live on earth.  All of the sudden you see me, lets also imagine that you have just won the lottery, you are very happy, and I ask you why are you acting so strange (remember I'm from Mars) you tell me that you are so happy!  Now hold it there I ask what is happy? how do you describe what happy is?  I'm in the middle of reading a book by Daniel Gilbert, "Stumbling on Happiness," is a very good book, and as a matter of fact you can now see it on my site as one of my recommendations.  My prediction is that this book will become the next best seller.  It is similar to Freakonomics, and has excellent reviews.  The book may not teach you how to be happy, but it sure explains why we think we feel happy and the relativity of the term happiness. 

If you are going on vacation and are looking for a good book to read this summer, grab a copy, you will be amused, and hopefully you'll learn some along the way.

A tribute

Last time I talked about the latest book I read titles "Empire of Debt," by Will Bonner, the book has already climbed to #2 in the NY Times non-fiction (although it almost seems as fiction) best seller list.  Today I will talk about another book I read, it is also a best seller and a really good book, the title is "Freakonomics," by Steven Levitt, and Stephen Dunber, as the cover reads, "Prepare to be Dazzled."  It attempts to break a few paradigms and makes you think about cause and effect.  Every chapter explores a different topic that I'm sure will keep you reading non stop until the end.  If you have ever wanted to become an outside of the box thinker or consider yourself one, this book definitively is for you.

I have mentioned once or twice throughout my blog John Mauldin, I consider him a very knowledgeable person in the field of investing and economics, and has the ability to explain very difficult topics in a way that anybody can understand, through his news letters I have learned a lot about economics, finance, and then some.  He recently published his newest book "Just One Thing."  I also recommend this book for your library, this book is a great deal, it contains the knowledge and advice of 12 great individuals.  Each chapter is written by a different person, and it is very insightful in the field of economics and life in general.  I will admit the book is not as good as his first one "Bulls Eye Investing," but it makes a great Christmas gift even for yourself, and one that will pay itself many times over if you follow its advice.

I will finish today's blog on a sad note, I learned today before leaving work that one of my co-workers lost his wife this morning due to a heart related problem, as it appears it was very sudden.  He's a great individual, and I got to know him while going to the athletic club at 5:00 in the morning and at church.  This is a reminder of how precious and fragile life can be, and how unfair life sometimes is, it also reminds me how Gods destiny and plan for us is much greater that our own flawed humanity.  I wish I knew what to say in these cases, and I wish I had the exact words that would comfort him in this moment, however I do not, I could not even imagine going through that situation, one morning you wake up, next thing you get a call with the news...  All I can offer is hope, hope that this too shall pass.  Mike my prayers are with you and your family, I'm sure your wife is keeping an eye on you from above, and rest assured she's in a much better place, as my humble tribute to you and your family, I'd like to repeat a portion of a blog I published back in September about Hope, may God bless you and make your pain bearable.

Sincerely

Your friend Salvador

"Never let go of hope. One day you will see that it all has finally come together. What you have always wished for has finally come to be. You will look back and laugh at what has passed and you will ask yourself... 'How did I get through all of that?"

Anonymous

"When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you are slamming the door in the face of God."

Charles L. Allen

      "Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today."

Thicht Nhat Hanh

      "No man is beaten until his hope is annihilated, his confidence gone. As long as a man faces life hopefully, confidently, triumphantly, he is not a failure; he is not beaten until he turns his back on life."

Orison Swett Marden

      "Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope"

Anonymous

      "Hope never abandons you; you abandon it"

George Weinberg

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."

Dale Carnegie

  "To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing"

Raymond Williams

   "Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up."

Anne Lamott

      "Hope is the feeling that the feeling you have isn't permanent."

Jean Kerr

The Fewer the Worst

Last night I finished reading the book "Fewer", by Ben Wattenberg.  It is a really good book and offers a very interesting perspective on world demographics.  The book is centered around an index called the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) which is the number of babies per woman.  In order to remain at replacement levels we need a 2.1 TFR or we need 2.1 babies per woman, it sounds logic, 2 babies per couple in addition .1 because not all babies make it to adulthood.  It is very disturbing how many developed countries are already way below replacement level, Europe is at around 1.4, China is at 1.8 and declining, even in a lot of emerging countries, this rate has declined and in some cases gone below replacement levels.  Mexico for example will go below replacement levels this year according to the UN.  So illegal immigration may not be a problem in the future.  Amazingly the only one of the developed nations with fertility rates at or slightly above replacement levels is the US.  This will turn our to be a big advantage in the years to come.  The uniqueness of this country and its ability to take many immigrants year after year, has given the US the edge.  Despite this, the future will not be all flowers as we will be facing the enormous task of dealing with ineffective programs such as medicare and social security.  If it makes you feel any better, our problems pale in comparison to Europe or Japan for example, where the average age of the population will increase gradually, and there will not be enough young people to support the elder.  The role of Europe in world affairs will be diminished as they will have to choose between guns or rocking chairs.  SO in summary the world population will peak in a few years and then start declining.  This will have serious repercussions politically, economically, and environmentally.  I will not give the book away, it is worth reading.

Sal

The one thing you really need to know...

I've been staying pretty late and waking up the last two days, and have had a combined 7 hours of sleep total, so this will be a "Seinfeld type of blog", a blog about nothing.  Just want to share with you some of my latest book picks, I finished reading "Leadership Presence", and started one by Marcus Buckingham on "The One Thing You Need to Know", so far is a decent book.  But for now I will have to excuse myself and tell you that the one thing you need to know is that I need to go to sleep

Good night